Harry Potter and the Grand Tour
by AlexandreNobaparte
Summary: 1 year has passed since the Battle of Hogwarts and Harry, Ron, Ginny and Hermionie are getting ready for the traditional wizard trip around the world, the Grand Tour! Join them in this 1 year long journey where they will visit such places like Beauxbatons, Romania and the USA and go through new and exiting adventures!
1. Chapter 1

**HARRY POTTER AND THE GRAND TOUR**

 **Hi everyone! This is my first fan fic ever. I submit this in the hope that someone will take over the story. English is not my first language and I really struggled to write this. I lack both the time and the writing ability to write the whole story but wanted to put out at least this 2 chapters as to offer a look at the potential that I think the idea of the story has. The idea is that our favourite characters, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny go on a journey around the world, a Grand Tour (check the HP wiki for the tour), which I think opens up a lot of story potential for adventure, character development and romance. If there is any real fan-fiction writers willing to take over the story, please message me. I'd like someone to add more dialogue, character development and humor to these opening 2 chapters as well as continue the story throughout all of the journey. Thank you for your time and enjoy!**

 _March 14, 1999_

 _Headmistress Minerva McGonagall_

 _Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

 _Mr Arthur Weasley_

 _'The Burrow', Ottery St Catchpole, Devon_

 _West Country, England_

 _Dear Arthur,_

 _The purpose of this letter is to inform you of the events that took place on the school grounds on the past Saturday night concerning a muggle machine of your property._

 _At 10pm of Saturday the 13th, after being relentlessly bullied by his classmates, first year Waldy Roodville broke out of the castle and immersed himself into the deepest corners of the Forbidden Forest. Inevitably, he soon found himself about to be smashed to death by a Giant's club. However, this was when a most peculiar thing happened. According to the boy, he was saved by a 'flying metallic creature with two bright eyes'._

 _Of course, as I'm sure you have, I instantly recognized what the child described as a 'metallic creature'. Indeed, he was referring to the enchanted muggle machine that your son Ron used all those years ago to get to Hogwarts Castle with the aid of Harry Potter, the 'automobail'._

 _Apparently, the boy hid himself inside the automobail, which was in turn destroyed by the powerful Giant. The automobail barely managed to return the boy safely back to the school, where it collapsed, and it hasn't moved or produced sound since._

 _The automobail is currently awaiting for your retrieval inside our school Storeroom, and you may come for it whenever you can._

 _I am looking forward to see you again._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Minerva McGonagall_

 _Headmistress at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

This letter was read out loud by Arthur Weasley on the sunny noon of the 17th of June of 1999, 3 months after receiving it, as he sat at the table for dinner at the Burrow. The Weasleys were hosting a welcome party for Ginny and Hermione, who had just arrived from Hogwarts. Unlike Harry and Ron, Hermione had gone back to school to finish her studies after the Battle of Hogwarts, and now, both Hermione and Ginny had graduated the school with the highest of honors, and were prepared for the coming challenges of adult life. The only exception to the awe that the present faces expressed for Arthur's letter were Mr and Mrs Granger, who got lost after the first few lines of the letter and restrained themselves to quietly ask their daughter what a 'muggle' was.

After reading the letter, Arthur explained how excited he was when he had first read it 3 months before, how he had immediately scheduled a visit to Hogwarts and how he had had the idea to keep the whole thing a secret until it was the time to give his daughter a most awesome graduation present. Harry, Ron, Hermione and George were ecstatic, Ginny was almost in tears, Molly was not very happy, and the Grangers were confused. Arthur led them all to the garage, where the light blue Ford Anglia was parked, and explained to them how he managed to fix the car with a couple of charms, leaving it practically new. He said that, to prevent the mistakes of the past, he had added a charm to make the vehicle indestructible. Ginny was the first to try it, and she proved once again her natural ability with flying objects.

George spent the afternoon mocking Arthur for the letter's last line, which only deepened Molly's anger towards her husband. She had baked a big cake that tried (and failed) to look like Gryffindor's emblematic lion, and sat with the Grangers, inquiring them about dentistry and mugglehood in general. The muggle couple's gift to their daughter consisted of an old bracelet that had been in the family for a long time, which didn't seem like much compared to a flying car, but had as much love as the car had fun. At around 6pm, Hermione went back with her parents to their old home, George went back to his flat in Diagon Alley (where he lived now with his now best friend Lee Jordan), and Harry and Ron went back to 12 Grimmauld Place, where they had been living for the last year.

Harry and Ron worked as interns at the Auror Department, where they usually raided ex-Death Eater hide-outs and made several important arrests. During the course of the year, Ron had learned more from muggle culture than he had during the previous 18 years of his life, and he was absolutely fascinated by it. The 2 young wizards heard muggle music and frequented muggle bars. They had made a few attempts at browsing the internet, but soon discarded the whole thing as just confusing nonsense. They even went to the movies a few times, the last of which had produced a heated debate between Ron and his older brother George, who argued for the original Star Wars trilogy's superiority over the new prequel movie. They often visited the Burrow, where they spent time with the Weasley parents, and flew around with their brooms. Harry had bought a brand new Nimbus 2600, which had recently dethroned the Firebolt as the new fastest broom in the world. They saw Hermione and Ginny every weekend at Hogsmead as well as for Christmas, Easter and at some occasional encounters in the Shrieking Shack. On May, there was a big event at Hogwarts to celebrate a year since the defeat of Voldemort and on June, there was a Graduation Ball for seventh years and their relatives.

Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny had spent the whole year talking about the possibility of going on a vacation when Hermione came across a very interesting idea at the library. Apparently, in the late 19th century, it was a common tradition among graduated wizards and witches to go on a journey around the world, a journey they called the 'Grand Tour'. It was a year long trip of discovery and adventure, meeting other cultures and knowing the world, and they had to do it. According to tradition, 19th century wizards made the Tour on flying, invisible carriages, in order to really enjoy the journey, as opposed to just Apparating everywhere. The four young wizards were a little worried about where they could find one of those such carriages, but this particular problem was solved the moment Arthur Weasly announced his special gift for his daughter. It was hard to convince Harry at first, who was worried about his career as an Auror at the Ministry. Ron on the other side, was fascinated with the idea, anxious to take a break from dark magic and Death Eaters. After all, they both had been struggling with dark wizards for years and, as Harry knew deep inside, they really needed this. Ginny and Hermione were not even sure about what they wanted to do with their lives anyway, so they figured that taking a year to travel wouldn't hurt them. They consulted many different people about possible destinies and must-see places and soon they'd come up with a plan that satisfied the 4 of them. The Tour would last a whole year. They would visit 21 countries and stay about 2 weeks in each. They would departure on late August and visit, in chronological order, Paris, Beauxbatons, Barcelona, Rome, Athens, Berlin, Drumstrang, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Uganda, India, China, Japan, Indonesia, Australia, Argentina, Peru, Brazil, Mexico, New York, Vegas, and finally, Ilvermorny School in Massachusetts.

The 4 wizards still had 2 months before the start of the journey, which they spent playing Quidditch at the Burrow, partying at 12 Grimmauld Place and flying the Ford Anglia. The 2 months passed fast and soon it was time to leave. Yet again, the Weasleys found themselves hosting a 'goodbye party' at the Burrow, this time with many of the wizard's friends like Neville, Luna and Seamus. Around 3pm, Harry, Ron, Ginny and Hermione packed their suitcases and brooms in the magically expanded trunk and got in the car. Ron started the engine, pressed the Invisibility Booster, turned on the radio and, with the sound of the Weird Sisters, flew away, south across the English Channel, towards Paris.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2- France

The journey over the sea was beautiful, and more so when the sun set. Towards 10pm, they saw the first Parisian lights, and a few minutes later, the grand Eiffel Tower was right before them. Like in most big cities, there was a magic hotel in Paris, where the 4 wizards were received like international celebrities and they rented a room for each couple. The next day, they ate breakfast by the Eiffel Tower and Ron found on street mimes a new fear that could probably rival his fear of spiders, marking the start of a fascinating and romantic week. During the course of the week, Hermione, who had visited the city before, led the others to several museums like the Louvre and other historical places. Like Diagon Alley in London, there was a hidden place in Paris called Baguette Ruelle, which was the centre of the Parisian magic world. In the centre of Baguette Ruelle, there was the magic world's greatest museum, The Sorciere Palais. The Palais, which dated from the 15th century, was huge. Its white walls were filled with moving paintings, similar to the ones that can be found at the Sistine Chapel and it had dozens of moving stone statues.

The week passed fast, and on the first lights of the first day of September, it was time for them to leave. Once again, the 4 wizards got into the Flying Ford Anglia and headed to the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, the French wizarding school, hidden in the Pyrenees Mountains. First, they would go to Corbeau, a magic village at the base of the mountain range, that was to Beauxbatons what Hogsmead was to Hogwarts. Since the location of the school was secret, they would have to park their car in the village and take a magic carriage, pulled by flying horses, to the school grounds. They would arrive on the first day of school, and a big ceremony would take place to receive them as well as the students.

When they arrived at Corbeau, they parked the car and headed to the village's station. There, they saw hundreds of students of all ages boarding flying carriages. The 4 wizards approached a ticket man that immediately recognized them and told them that they were one hour early for their carriage. As the student's carriages departed and flew towards the mountains, the 4 wizards walked to a nearby pub and waited there for the remaining hour. When it was time, they returned to the station and found their vehicle with a man outside of it waiting for them. The carriage was light blue, and it was pulled by 7 golden winged horses. As soon as they got inside, the horses started running, and soon they were in the air. They flew over the mountains for about 20 minutes until they reached a huge green valley, surrounded from all sides by mountains. Near the middle of the valley, there was a white castle, the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic. The castle was surrounded by elegant green gardens with fountains and sculptures made out of stone, ice and plants. The carriage landed on a big courtyard where all the other carriages were parked. The students were lining up on many rows, forming a semicircle around Madame Maxime, the Headmistress, who was waiting with a couple of teachers beside her. The 4 wizards got out of the carriage and were greeted by the loud buzz of the student's whispers. There was a large red carpet between them and Madame Maxime. All of the student's eyes laid on Harry Potter, but one particular student's look was different from the others. Gabrielle Delacour gazed at Harry with a smile and waved. Harry returned the wave. Madame Maxime shook the wizard's hands and guided them inside the castle to their table at the Dining Hall. There, Maxime pronounced a long speech and then everybody started eating.

The four wizards sat at the table with the professors and shared some of their adventures while wood nymphs serenaded the Hall. By far the most eccentric of the professors was the Care for Magical Creatures professor, Bernard Balou, an animagus that could transform himself into a bear. He was fascinated with their stories and the 4 wizards immediately liked him. When they finished eating, Gabrielle approached the table to greet them. She struggled to not stare at Harry, provoking a not subtle frown in Ginny, and they invited her to sit with them. The 14 year old girl offered to provide a tour to the wizards the next day to show them the castle, and the professors only accepted that she could skip her classes after some rather strong insisting. Gabrielle was known for skipping classes and getting into trouble, but Harry promised to keep an eye on her. After about an hour of stories and laughter, it was time to go to sleep. One of the professors guided the wizards to their respective dormitories in the Professor Tower, and they were all soon deep asleep.

The next day, Gabrielle toured them through the castle as promised. At the central corridor of the castle, the paintings of every headmaster the school had ever had hung from the wall. The first painting was of the first headmaster and founder of the school, Alexandre Nobaparte. He was dressed in blue and had a long, golden beard. He waved at them, and they waved back. She then explained that Alexandre was a wealthy french student at Hogwarts in the 12th century. Jealous of the English, he dreamt of establishing a school in his homeland. Years later, he made his dream come true, and the school doors opened for the first time at the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic. Suddenly, from behind the wizard in the painting, the wizards saw a small creature, with the body of a lion, and head, claws and wings of an eagle, fly towards him and land over his shoulder. Gabrielle explained that the creature was Alexandre's pet griffin, Viggo. Alexandre was known to be quite fond of griffins, which were abundant in the place at the time. But intense hunting had led the species to disappear of the land centuries ago, and griffins had never been seen again near Beauxbatons. Only a few weeks before, there had been reports of a griffin sighting near Corveau, but Gabrielle explained that the people of Courveau were _weird,_ so nobody actually believed them.

As the 5 wizards continued on to the next painting, Harry heard a whisper calling for him. "Hey, boy! Its me, Alexandre! It appears my friend here, Viggo, wants to tell you something!" Harry, surprised, stayed behind while his friends went on, and listened. The griffin made some bird-like sounds onto his owner's ear, and the old wizard traduced: "It's a warning! He says that something bad will happen soon. When there is no other option, use the the green slippers! Wait, that can't be right. I'm pretty old now, and my griffinish is a little rusty you know". Harry did not understand what was happening, and just stared at the painting with a frown. "What are you doing Harry?" suddenly said Ginny. "Its nothing!" answered Harry, and joined the others. They continued to tour the castle, and Gabrielle told them about its long history, its many historical headmasters, professors and students and its 3 houses: Aiglebec, Nymforet and Patdour. They also encountered some funny ghosts and goblins, and walked through the beautiful gardens and the Quidditch court. They also learnt that there was a very powerful protective spell around the castle that acted as a sort of dome surrounding the castle that prevented the students from ever flying outside of it in brooms. The tour took the whole morning, and around midday Gabrielle told them that she had to go back to a Care for Magical Creatures class. They didn't get to visit the whole castle, but they weren't worried since they still had a week left in the castle.

A couple of days later, there was the opening Quidditch match of the year between Aiglebec and Nymforet. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny sat beside Bernard Balou at the stadium. The professor asked them about the tour with Gabrielle, and Hermione told him that it was great. "She is a special girl you know, she doesn't have a lot of friends, and she really likes to skip classes and spend time away from her terrible classmates. I always like to have her in my class, but I'm glad that she was with you instead". Hermione wondered what he meant, since he should know that Gabrielle went back to his class at midday. Anyways, she got distracted by Ron, who suddenly screamed and pointed to the sky. "Did you see that?! A massive bird just flew over the stadium! Its right there behind the clouds!" But nobody else saw anything, and they quickly discarded his claims. "You have nothing to worry about Ron, mimes can't fly" said Ginny, "Make silence, the match is about to start". Gabrielle was the seeker for Aiglebec, and as soon as the match started, she threw herself after the Golden Snitch with incredible speed. She naturally dodged other players and Bludgers with spins and loops as if they were cones, and Harry could tell she was showing off. At one point, Gabrielle passed very near to where Harry was, and he was able to distinguish a smirk on her face that left him wondering if he had also seen a wink. After about 40 minutes, as the girl draw near the Snitch, she turned around, facing the floor with her back, and let go of her hands. She was now only hanging to her broom with her legs. Harry smiled, and Ginny frowned. But it wouldn't last, as right when she was about to catch the Snitch, a Bludger came out of nowhere, and knocked the girl down, making all of the people in the crowd gasp and cover their mouths with their hands. She fell from about 5 meters high, and hit the floor before anyone could cast a protective spell.

The girl lay in the floor without moving, and the medics started to approach her. But suddenly, the eyes of the crowd turned to the sky. Some sort of flying beast was approaching them very fast, and landed right beside the injured girl. It was a griffin. The brown beast, with the body of a lion and head, wings and claws of an eagle, was the size of an rhino. It made a loud squeak, opened its majestic wings, grabbed the girl between its claws, and took off. Madame Maxime, displaying incredible reflexes, threw a spell at the griffin, but it proved ineffective as it only temporary dumbed the beast and made it crash into one of the stadium towers. The beast immediately recovered and continued its flight with the girl in its claws, now free of persecution since all the professors went to the aid of the students of the collapsing tower. Harry quickly stood up, and raising his wand, shouted as loud as he could: "Accio Nimbus!". His broom came with the speed of a bullet and he jumped over it midair. He chased the beast over the white castle, dodging its huge towers, and casting (ineffective) spells at the beast. The griffin was heading for the mountains, but Harry was rapidly approaching it, he couldn't let it escape. But suddenly, when he was just about 1 meters from the beast, his broom stopped flying, and he was falling to the ground. He was able to cast a spell that allowed him to land slower than normal, avoiding certain death, but not avoiding being knocked unconscious.

Harry woke up seriously confused on the nursery room. Olympe Maxime, Bernard Balou and his 3 friends were all by his bedside. Maxime, pale as paper and completely desperate, explained to him that his broom had stopped flying because of the castle's protective spell that prevented the students from flying to the mountains, and that the griffin had escaped with Gabrielle. She said that they had to act fast and immediately set up an expedition squad to go and recover Gabrielle, and the best people she could think of were the 4 young wizards (former war heros) and Bernard, who had vast experience hiking the mountains and knew a whole lot about griffins. Some people had seen the griffin fly towards Blancbijou, the highest of the surrounding mountains. The thing was, the castle's protective spell prevented them from flying or apparating, so the expedition would have to be made by foot. Harry immediately agreed and jumped out of the bed, and 20 minutes later, they were all ready to depart.

But as they stepped out of the castle Harry saw something strange. A girl, not older than 14 y.o., took a pair of green slippers out of a bag. "A pair of slippers! Who wants a pair of slippers?!" Harry approached the girl and asked "Excuse me, can I ask what are you doing?" The girl gasped "Oh these belong to that girl, Gabrielle Delacour. People are saying she must be dead by now, so we are giving out her stuff you know? Nothing important. Hey Harry can I have your autograph?" Harry frowned. "No you cannot. What you are doing is not nice and if I may I'll take those slippers with me OK?" He took the slippers and put them in his bag.

A carriage approached the 5 of them to the base of the mountain on what was about 30 minutes and from there, the 4 young wizards started the long hike to the top of Blancbijou guided by Bernard in his bear form. At first, it was really hard for them all, but after several hours, and just when hopelessness had begun to set in them, they found something really unexpected. On the trunk of a tree, they saw a mark, an X carved on the wood. And after a while, they saw the same mark on another tree, and then another. They deduced it was a trail, and having no other options, they decided to follow it. The trail went on for another hour, which they spent speculating about the meaning of the mysterious marks. After an hour, the trial reached a canyon, and the next mark was on the other side of the canyon. They were in trouble. They couldn't fly over it or apparate because of the spell, and every minute passing meant less chances of finding Gabrielle alive. And just when they they were starting to lose hope again, Viggo's words came to Harry, "When there is no other option, use the green slippers". He took the slippers out of his bag, and explained to his friends what had happened at the corridor and the griffin's words. "That makes sense!, griffins are known to posses divinatory abilities. The problem is very few people know griffinish. And if he was right about something bad happening, you could be onto something!" Harry took his shoes off, and put on the slippers. They waited for a moment, but nothing happened. "Well that didn't work". Harry then approached the cliff, and to his friend's terror, stepped onto the void. But he didn't fall, he was standing in the air. He then made another step, and another. "It is a bridge!" He exclaimed. "An invisible bridge!". After they had proven to themselves that the bridge could only be crossed with the green slippers, Harry made his way to the other side of the canyon. He shouted to his friends to wait for him there, and that he would get to the end of the trail. It was too risky to throw the magic slippers over the canyon.

Harry followed the tree marks, and they led him to a cave. It was sunset. Armed with courage, he went in, and once he saw how dark it was, he cast Lumos. He walked for around 100 mts and suddenly, he heard a most comforting voice. "Harry?" His whole body relaxed with relief as he hugged the girl, he had found her. "Oh Gabrielle, thank god. Come on, we have to get out of here". "Wait Harry, there's something I have to tell you!" "You tell me after, now we have to hurry". They ran to the entrance of the cave, and as they were approaching it, it appeared. With its large wings, the griffin covered the whole entrance. It made a loud squeak, and started approaching the 2 wizards. "Stay behind me". Harry pointed his wand at the griffin. And when he was about to throw a spell at it, the young girl put herself in front of him. "No! You don't understand, he is my friend!" She turned around and faced the griffin. "Its OK D'oro, he won't hurt you". She approached the creature, placed a hand on its beak, and after a few pats, the griffin laid down on the floor. "I found its egg 3 years ago on the forest" she started to explain. "It was alone so I decided to keep it in secret. Obviously I couldn't keep it in the castle so I took him to the mountain and found this cave. I made the trail and marked the trees so as to not get lost and- wait. How did you find out about the slippers?" "Its a long story". "OK, anyways. I created the invisible bridge, and made sure no one could follow me by charming it so that only my slippers could cross it. I visited him almost every day, took care of him and loved him. Now 3 years have passed and he has grown uncontrollably large. He followed me to the game today, and when he saw me on the floor, he thought I was hurt, and took me here. I am scared, they will come for him and kill him. You have to do something". Harry, struggling to process everything that was happening, answered. "Its OK Gabrielle, we will take care of it. For now, lets take you home". The girl said goodbye to her griffin, and they returned to the bridge. Harry crossed it with the girl on his arms, and met his friends who were waiting for them. They explained everything and started their way back to the castle.

An hour later, they were all back at the castle. Gabrielle was put on the nursery room and the rest of the wizards were cheered and thanked. The next day, a large dinner was held, and Olympe Maxime gave a speech thanking Harry and his friends. She said that preparations were being held to set up a second expedition to kill the beast. Gabrielle was crying, and Harry could only think about the day 6 years before when Buckbeak was sentenced to death. He stood up, approached Gabrielle and whispered to her, "Don't worry girl, I have an idea". Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny would depart that day in the afternoon. They said goodbye to everyone, and took a carriage to Corveau. They got into the Flying Ford Anglia, and Harry offered to drive. But after a few minutes, Harry turned left. "What are you doing Harry? You are going in the wrong way!" "No Hermione, we still have someone to save!" Harry headed to Blancbijou mountain, which stood out among all the other mountains, and landed the car outside D'oro's cave. "I've heard before that Newt Scamander travelled the world with a dozen beasts inside his suitcase. How hard could it be to carry one on a car-trunk?"

End of Chapter 2

 **As I said on Chapter 1, I'd like someone to take over from here. Here are some ideas and subplots for future chapters:**

 **After Beauxbatons, the trio would visit Barcelona, Rome, Athens, Berlin, Drumstrang, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Uganda, India, China, Japan, Indonesia, Australia, Argentina, Peru, Brazil, Mexico, New York, Vegas, and finally, Ilvermorny School in Massachusetts.**

 **In Berlin, they could fight a vampire cult.**

 **In Romania, they would meet Charlie Weasley and Norberta, Hagrid's dragon from TPS. Maybe a cool subplot could include a fight between D'oro and some evil dragon.**

 **In Arabia, they would fly magic carpets.**

 **In New York, they could meet Hermione's grandmother, the original owner of the bracelet that her parents gave her at the graduation party, which would be revealed to possess magical properties.**


End file.
